Nearly 100 college students participated in a ‘wetland schooling’ session at Punchakkari on the city’s outskirts on Sunday morning.
The students, National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers of All Saints’ College, Veli, took part in activities that included nature walk, birdwatching, wetland cleaning, interaction with farmers. The students also worked in paddy fields.
Climatehood, a non-government organisation working on raising awareness about climate action, organised the session as part of its Wetland Conservation Month campaign. The World Wetlands Day, observed on February 2, was based on the theme ‘Revive and Restore Degraded Wetlands.’ This was the fourth event organised by Climatehood this month to create awareness about wetlands, aimed at conserving and restoring them in line with this theme.
Threatened ecosystem
Wetlands are the most threatened ecosystem on the planet, and are disappearing three times faster than forests, according to the United Nations. However, they contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation, food and fresh water availability, floodwater control, and so on.
Safana Beegum S.S., a second-year B.Com. student of All Saints’ College and an NSS volunteer secretary, took part in the study tour last year and decided to come again. “It turned out to be an even better experience than last time, hearing new bird sounds and taking the wetland walk,” she said.
Cherished experience
A yoga session helped them relax and experience nature’s beauty. Another experience to cherish was working in the paddy fields. “Everyone enjoyed it so much that we had difficulty in getting them to stop.”
Not many students know about wetlands and their importance, she said. Even NSS volunteers from Thiruvananthapuram did not know about the Punchakkari wetlands. The session helped them realise the need to preserve wetlands for the future.
Bharat Govind of Climatehood said they organise the wetland schooling at Vellayani, the second largest freshwater lake in the State, with the aim of promoting youth engagement in wetland conservation through awareness and direct action.
This year, the programme sought to encourage local people and the youth to take ownership of the programme by assuming leadership roles. As part of this, a 10-member green tribe had been established in the College of Agriculture, Vellayani, and they had already conducted two wetland schooling activities.
